Archival Inkjet Print – 2020

In 1853, United States physician and author John H. Van Evrie published his first defense of slavery as a pamphlet entitled Negroes and Negro “Slavery”. The pamphlet would be the first of several publications by Van Evrie during the next two decades that would promote his belief that each “race” was a different “species” and that Caucasians were superior to all others. In Negroes and Negro “Slavery”, he made arguments such as black people’s skin being incapable of expression to the same extent as white people and black people having smaller sized brains and inferior learning capabilities. He also always put quotations around “slavery” as he argued that slavery was a divinely ordained natural condition for black people and that there was “no slavery in this country.” Regarded by some as the “first professional racist in American history”, his works gained much notoriety across the United States and received endorsements from individuals such as Jefferson Davis.

In 1867, Van Evrie republished Negroes and Negro “Slavery” as White Supremacy and Negro Subordination or, Negroes A Subordinate A Subordinate Race and (so-called) Slavery Its Normal Condition. With this new edition, Van Evrie sought to explicitly illustrate that “so-called slavery” was the natural condition for black people. He also dedicated several chapters to detail black people’s “similarities to animals” along with their “inability to grow beards” and “absolute resemblance” to each other as further justification for slavery. While beyond ludicrous, this publication and Van Evrie’s portfolio of work is a prime example of the fundamentally barbaric nature of the United States’ systems and psyche. With White Barbies I: Black Privilege, Nic[o] Brierre Aziz reappropriates the title page of Van Evrie’s infamous publication in attempt to reveal the more apt identification of its roots.

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